Dance: Tulsa Spring Swing 2016 and ongoing "streamlining" of WCS industry

I went to Tulsa Spring Swing for a night (3/26/2016). It is a relatively small but well-run West Coast Swing (WCS) dance event. Mostly local, some regional, competitors were competing and having fun. Familiar regional pros were judging, giving workshops and privates, and dancing demonstrations in a contest form. 

I went there for enjoying a night with some social dancing, watching dancing, and greeting some friends. Yes, it was fun.



One thing I noticed at the event was that people got "smarter". Less number of crazy dancers staying up late and dancing.

Pros have jobs to do the next day, like workshop from 10AM or getting prepared for tomorrow's pro-am or other things to take care of to run the event, so they disappeared early. Points and competition-minded competitors went to bed for preparation and conditioning (presumably).

Surely there were many social dancers. But I felt the energy on the floor was somewhat down at the late night dance.


And I thought, this is how differentiation of a dance community goes.

In many dances, pro's world and amateur's world are different. Stage Tango vs social Tango. Professional ballroom dancers and social dancers. Routine-dancing salsa troop may not hang out on the social floor for long to prepare for their routine performance.

In case of WCS, ... WCS has been around for, like 60 years. It was a social dance. I saw footage from early US open, which was from 1983. The dance did not seem to be as polished as it is in today's competition. The dance was younger.

Now, the "polished" presentations are performed by pros trained since childhood.  In their routines, they can do amazing things amateurs and social dancers don't even think about.

Even if a dance began as a social dance, as it matures, someone starts doing showy things and would claim championship.


In my view, the differentiation between pros and amateurs was accelerated after the introduction of point system in WCS competition. The point system was introduced for about, 10 years? It was not very long ago, but it was enough to change the WCS dance industry. Now competitors ask a dancer's category and points to estimate their levels. It is presumed that dance progress is proportional to the points a dancer possesses, and there is a linear track from a beginner, a socially competent dancer, a good dancer, a good competitor, to a professional. Among pros and above, there are a few great champion dancers. 

True or not, the system is there and the rules of the game have emerged. Like money, points mean value in the game. And if you play the game well, you may be rewarded (or so you may feel).


For active competitors, the points are currency and valuable. But it is also natural to change the game you play, according to your skills, commitment, desire, positioning and your age.

Some may choose not to compete. Older competitors retire from competitive dance (a manual labor, in a cynical sense) and shift their efforts to something a little easier and more profitable, such as private teaching or running their own event. Nothing is wrong with it. There are many ways to get involved. You decide. 

[Tulsa Spring Swing logo]

Science: Zombies in the aging body and how we can stop Zombie bites

Science is diligently making progress. This entry is a follow up for a previous post (link) on 8/18/2015, titled "Science: You may be able to do something about aging of your tissue".


I was writing a review article that includes this topic. I'll attempt to explain recent progress in a non-academic manner here.


When a cell in our body got damaged through a challenge (DNA damaging reagents, radiation, UV, etc) or through botched mitosis, the cell can die. But if the damage is not severe enough to kill the cell, the cell would survive. The survived cell can reprogram itself to express senescent proteins as a part of damage repair attempt. At the same time, with somewhat unclear mechanism, the cell can acquire ability to secrete inflammatory cytokines, interleukins and other proteins.

The acquired phenotype is called Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (SASP).


Senescent cells can be recognized and removed by immune cells. Calling out immune cells to get rid of damaged self (senescent cell) was likely the original purpose for SASP.

Funky part is that the secreted proteins can reach the surrounding cells, and can cause inflammation and damage to these healthy cells. The surrounding cells can acquire SASP that way.

Right. SASP can be contagious and can propagate. Imagine Zombie bites (classic slow one) from senescent cells. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Zombies_NightoftheLivingDead.jpg/220px-Zombies_NightoftheLivingDead.jpg

A paper reported that, in human, fat tissues from 31 years old contain about 3% of senescent cells, while those from 71 years old contain about 10%. As fat tissue is pretty big organ in human, they can influence body's function through SASP (so they argued). Many scientists come to believe that SASP is a significant influencing factor on tissue/organ aging and health span.


Then, perhaps, if you can reduce the effects of SASP, you can stay "younger" for longer? Animal-based experiments support this notion.


There are three approaches to reduce SASP.

1. Prevent senescent cells from occurring (which is probably not a good idea, as senescence-activating mechanisms also play roles in preventing cancer).

2. Kill senescent cells selectively by using specific markers or by taking advantage of unique characters of these cells (this approach is what we are working on).

3. Cut off SASP by intervening SASP process or by tweaking signaling involved in SASP. (With this approach, senescent cells themselves may survive, but SASP is inhibited.)


Recent progress in approach 3 has identified some chemicals that can interfere SASP, including rapamycin, JAK inhibitor, p38 MAPK and MK2 inhibitors, glucocorticoid, and metformin (that diabetes medicine).

The list is expanding. We will know more chemicals that can intervene SASP and about mechanisms that cause SASP, in more organ sites.



Sounds promising? But please be cautious and don't take the chemicals for aging prevention purpose yet. I am talking about latest science, and human application requires a series of testing and clinical trials for obvious reasons.

Dance: Have you thought of what you want to show?

I have been a little busy for writing reviews and data analysis. And in weekend I was busy dancing and sleeping (daylight saving began and spring is near...which made me sleepy). I'll keep this entry short.

       *****************************************
The title question is, "Have you thought of what you want to show?"

There are some dance videos showing up in my facebook feed. Some are good and decent. Others are ...well, I felt like asking the title question, "Have you thought of what you want to show?"

Usually, professional performers are very careful about what they show. Amazing 5 seconds video serves much better than ho-hum 4 minutes dance in terms of showcasing professional skills in this era of short and sweet impression. People do not have time or patience for 4 minutes of mediocrity anyway.

People who are not afraid of showing ho-hum stuff are usually enthusiasts. They may gather friendly likes, but the performance lacks the "it" factor that amazes people who do not know them.


In other words, professional performers are very serious about working on the "it" factor.

Appeal is their lifeline. They think about it, define it, practice it, and present it. 

While most enthusiasts don't.

If you are going to do a dance contest or perform, I suggest you do the same as these professional performers.

Dance/Life: How do you look?

Some time ago I interviewed a professional dancer/dance show producer/director as a part of my research.

One of my questions was, "in your audition, how do you choose your dancers for your show?"

His answer: "How they look".

Then he added some other things, like "they should be responsible (for the work), showing up on time, etc", then elaborated the "look" as a certain personality, a whole package. He even said that he'd choose a dancer with the personality over a better-skilled dancer without the personality.


In short, dancers who appear on Broadway-level stage show should have the look and personality.


Right. I have a general idea about what he meant by watching professional stage dancers. It is a little difficult to elaborate, but the "look" is something visible. And probably without dancers with the personality that radiates and supports the dancer in limelight, the dance show would look drafty. 

By the producers actively seeking the look and personality, these dancers with the look and personality should be selected and enriched on the stage. Only then the show as an ensemble would shine. The producer knew that.


I bet few people see dancing in that way. But are you aware of how you look as a whole person, beyond the cosmetic and clothing level? Do you have the look and personality?


If you see life as a stage, you might take this question a little more seriously.

[Tango ballroom]

Photo by © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23727278